"I am leaving, but the movement will continue. What I am quitting is not the mobilization, nor the struggle, nor the CLASSE: I am quitting my role as spokesperson. I will remain at your side, in the streets, and in our assemblies."

Citing the need for "new blood" and "fresh faces" within the CLASSE, and bemoaning the relentless and vicious attacks he and CLASSE have been subjected to by the Charest government, who he said have attempted to paint the student movement, and him in particular, as "terrorists," he spoke of the need for the popular struggle to renew itself, as it enters a new phase.

"I leave with only one regret. I regret leaving my role while Quebec is still led by Jean Charest, a Premier who is contemptuous and violent towards Quebec and its youth. Shale gas, corruption, Anticosti, Mount Orford, tuition hikes and the health tax: the list of deception, of lies, of scandals and of attacks against the population perpetrated by this government is so very long."

Rumours swirled following his departure that Nadeau-Dubois would follow his former colleague, ex-FECQ president Leo Bureau-Blouin, into the electoral arena. Many asserted that he would stand as a candidate for Quebec Solidaire, the party most closely aligned with the ideals of the student movement.

Those rumours are false, and several independent sources within CLASSE assure rabble.ca that Nadeau-Dubois will not be involved in politics, in any capacity, until the conclusion of the strike.